The Indianapolis Colts have gotten through the majority of their offseason moves and now will prepare for training camp and the preseason when they return to Westfield at the end of July.
Taking a look back at the offseason that was, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranked the Colts’ offseason at No. 14 in the NFL. Barnwell gave his thoughts on what went right, what went wrong and what the team could have done differently in his eyes.
“What went right: Indy was able to buy low on a guy who was perceived to be a top-10 quarterback in many circles two years ago by sending a third-round pick and a potential first-rounder in 2022 to the Eagles for Carson Wentz. Frank Reich will need to essentially rebuild Wentz from the ground up after the former MVP candidate collapsed in 2020, but the Colts should be able to support Wentz with much better offensive line play than what we saw last season in Philly.
What went wrong: Both quarterback Philip Rivers and left tackle Anthony Castonzo retired, leaving the Colts in need of replacements at two of the most important positions in football. Wentz cost the franchise two draft picks, while Castonzo will be replaced on a one-year deal by Eric Fisher, who tore his Achilles in January and might not be ready to start the season. Indy also appears set to move on from Justin Houston, who was its primary pass-rusher on the edge; while it used a first-round pick on end Kwity Paye, there’s nobody with a long track record of success rushing the passer on this roster besides DeForest Buckner.
The Colts also re-signed two players who might have outlived their usefulness on the roster. Marlon Mack’s future with the team seemed in question last season when it drafted Jonathan Taylor, and that was before Mack tore his Achilles. His one-year, $2 million deal seems unnecessary for a player who doesn’t catch passes or play special teams. T.Y. Hilton is a Colts legend, but at one year and nearly $9 million, he’ll make more than guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster for 2021. General manager Chris Ballard has earned the benefit of the doubt over the past few years, but this is nearly $11 million the team could have used elsewhere.”
As for what Barnwell believes the Colts could have done differently, he would have preferred signing Alejandro Villanueva over Eric Fisher.
“What they could have done differently: Was Fisher the right choice at left tackle? Given the injury and the short-term nature of the deal, I wonder whether the Colts might have instead looked at Alejandro Villanueva as their veteran solution on Wentz’s blindside. They are pretty picky about who they target from outside the organization and place a heavy emphasis on character, but it’s difficult to imagine Indy finding many faults with the former Army captain.”
It will be interesting to see how quickly Fisher bounces back but if he can give the Colts above-average play at left tackle coming off the Achilles injury, that would be a massive win.
The Colts have a lot of “what-ifs” on the roster and we won’t know fully how good the team is until they start playing games together, but it certainly made for an interesting offseason.
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